Towel servidor



NOV. 20, 1934. HQNDEVlLLE 1,981,386

TOWEL SERVIDOR Filed Jan. 5, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 YINVENTOR A.l.f1011aleui LLe Q .bm

ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1934.v A. HONDEVILLE 1,981,386

' TOWEL sERVIbOR Filed Jan. 3, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY INVENTOR NOV. 20, 1934. Q E 1,981,386

TOWEL SERVIDOR Filed Jan. 5, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 A.[.H012deutlle Q um;

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT orric direct and mesne assignments, to Serv-A-Towel Manufacturing Company, San Francisco, Calif.,

a corporation Application January 3, 1933, Serial No. 64.9,788

9 Claims. (01. 312-37) This invention relates to towel dispensing apparatus for use with towel pads of the general form shown in my co-pending application for patent, Serial No. 649,789, filed January 3, 1933, and particularly represents improvements over the servidor shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 641,183, filed November 4, 1932.

The principal objects of the present invention are to improve the mounting and operation of the spring pressed follower so that the towels will be more evenly pressed forward; and to improve the arrangement of the springs on the doors so as to more effectively hold the towels from tending to sag down. I am thus able to eliminate the towel supporting peg used in the previous device and which sometimes interfered with the towel dispensing operation.

A further and also important object of the invention is to provide a special form of towel pad and a spring arrangement on the doors so oooperating with each other that each towel in succession will always be held by a pair of the door springs even before any pulling out movement of the foremost towel is had. In this manner the tendency of adjacent towels to cling to each other and a pair of them to be possibly pulled out together, is positively eliminated.

I have also provided means for almost completely concealing the used and soiled towels from view, said means being operable without the user or a subsequent person having to handle or touch such towel. The appearance of a device as a whole is thus considerably improved.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusual of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. l is a perspective view of my improved servidor with one door open to show the spring arrangement on the back of the same.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a used towel hanging down and before it is received in the enclosure.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the operation of the lower door to dispose of and enclose the used towel.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the servidor.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a spring pressed follower detached.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of the servidor showing a modified form of means to engage and dispose of the used towel.

Fig. 6a is a fragmentary front view of the servidor of Fig. 6, showing the driving means for the towel engaging roller.

Fig. '7 is a similar View showing a modified spring arrangement for'the follower. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the special form of towel pad foruse in the servidor.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation of the cabinet with a towel pad therein and with the door removed, but showing the engagement of certain ones of the door springs with the corners of the towels. p 1

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, and referring now. to the servidor as in the previous 7 application, the servidor comprises-essentially a rectangular cabinet 1 open on the front, whose width is slightly greater'than the width of the pad of towels 2, whose depth is sufficient to receive at least two such pads and whose height is 8 somewhat greater than the height of two pads.

The upper portion of the cabinet is provided with covers preferably in the form of hinged mirror doors 3, substantially the height of a towel and normally held closed by suitable catch devices l. Attheir upper ends the adjacent edges of the doors meet each other as indicated but for the major portion of their length such adjacentedges are separated to leave a vertical opening or slot as at 5, in the upper portion of which the pulltab 6 on the foremost towel'is exposed for pulling.

Disposed back of the towel pad in the upper portion of the cabinet is a fiat follower board '7 faced with toweling 8 or similar rough material. A rod 9 extends along and is secured to the top edge of the board, and overhangs theside edges of the same so as to form projections which ride'on ledges or rails 10 extending transversely in the cabinet at the side and adjacent the top thereof so that the follower hangs freely suspended and can move back and forth while remaining in a vertical plane. Springs urge the follower forward. These springs may be of the flat leaf type as shown at 11 in Fig. 4, or they may be of the helicaltelescopic typeas shown at 12 in Fig. 7.

The back of the doors 3 are provided with a plurality of flat springs 13 preferably arranged as spaced rows following along the hinged and top edges of the doors. The uppermost and opposed 1l 0 towels when pulled out by the centrally positioned tabs 6.

The plurality of door springs engage each towel successively over a large portion of its area and these springs together with the spring pressed follower thus hold the limp towels upright-with a constant pressure greater than the natural tendency of the towels to sag and drop. The rough facing on the follower prevents any tendency. for the adjacent towel to slip down and holds such towel in constant contact with the follower- Thetowels of the pad are bound together along their lower edge as before and the pad as a unit is slidably threaded on the upper legs of the U-shaped hooks 14 which project forwardly from the back of the cabinet and whose lower legs are fastened on the cabinet at the back. The upper legs terminate from the back of the cabinet a distance sufficient to permit of the passage of the bound back of a pad therebetween and are formed with upright extensions 15 one of which has a hole therethrough as 15a to receive the shackle of a padlock so as to prevent possible theft of the pad. The upper legs at their forward ends are formed with upstanding bends or humps 16.

These restrain further forward sliding movement of the pad, and act to prevent the weight of the towels, when nearly all have beenused and'are hanging down, from pulling the bound edge of the pad around the front end of the hooks and causing the remaining towels to be pulled down from between the follower and door springs.

' The towels 2 of the pad are arranged in a special manner. They are disposed in laterally offset relation in alternating order with about one inch or so of lateral offset. In addition the free edges of the towels at the end of the pad opposite the binding are cut on a bias as shown at B in alternating order as shown in Fig. 8, the peak of the bias being at the innermost offset corners of the towels as shown. This leaves the opposite top corners of the foremost towel exposed for engagement by the uppermost opposed springs on the doors, while the corresponding corners of the next towel are similarly engaged by the corresponding pair of springs on the doors in the reverse order as shown in Fig. 9. In this manner each towel back of the one being pulled out is engaged from the start by a pair of springs which positively prevent such back towel from being pulled out by the frictionalor dragging contact with the one in front.

When such front towel has been pulled out the pair of springs previously engaging the same now engage the corners of the towel back of the one which is now the foremost one in the cabinet, so that each towel in succession as it moves to the front of the cabinet with the successive pulling out of towels is always engaged by some holding springs.

The lower portion of the cabinet from a point below the level of the hooks to the bottom of the cabinet is covered by a door 17 hinged to the cabinet along its bottom edge as at 18 and provided on its right hand side adjacent the top with a laterally projecting handle 19 whereby the door may be pulled out. A spring device 20 of suitable character acts on the door toward the bottom and adjacent one side to yieldably hold the same closed.

When a towel is pulled out, used and released it naturally falls on the outside of the door 17 as shown in Fig. 2 and also rests on top of the same. Upon, the door being then pulled open by the handle 19 the upper edge of the door is drawn forwardly from under the towel and the latter will .be temporarily pulled to a substantially horizontal position as shown in Fig. 3. After the door has been opened a certain distance the relatively heavy and wet towel will drop free of the door and inside thecabinet after which the door may be released and allowed to close.

In certain installations it may be advisable to eliminate the manual disposition of the used towels. For such conditions I may mount a roller 21 across the front of the cabinet on top of the front lower panel 17a. This roller is rough surfaced and is constantly driven at a slow speed by suitable means such as an electric motor indicated at 22, and mounted at one end of the cabinet. The driving connections between the motor and roller may be worm gearing 23, arranged so that the upper surface of the roller turns inwardly toward the cabinet. This causes a used towel initially resting on the roller to be finally transferred from the exterior to the interior of the cabinet as indicated in Fig. 6. This arrangementis advantageous when a battery of the cabinets are disposed in continuous alinement in a large lavoratory. I

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objectsof the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having'thus described my invention what I claim as new and usefulanddesire'to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. A towel servidor for use with a towel pad comprising a cabinet, supports in the cabinet for a bound edge of the pad, whereby the pad may be disposed upstanding from the bound edge, a follower for engaging the back of the pad, means urging the'follower forwardly, a panel unit on the front of the cabinet above the pad supports and having a centrally disposed slot extending up wardly from the bottom, and a plurality of springs on and distributed over the back of the unit on each side of theslot for exerting a rearward pressure on the foremost towel. v

2. A structure as in claim 1 in which the springs are arranged to engage the towel at spaced points adjacent and along the top and side edges thereof.

3. A towel servidor for use with a towel pad comprising a. cabinet, means, in the cabinet'for supporting the lower edge of the pad, whereby the pad may be disposed upstanding from said edge, said supports comprising substantially U shaped rods slidably projecting through the pad and extending from. the back toward-the front of the cabinet with the legs in vertically spaced relation; one leg being secured to the back of the cabinet and the other leg being spaced from the back a distance-greaterthan the thickness of the pad, one of said other legs adjacent said termination being orificed to receive the shackle of a padlock.

4. A servidor for a pad of towels comprising a cabinet for the pad, means in the cabinet to support the pad along its lower edge in an upright position, means to yieldably engage the foremost towel while permitting it to be pulled out and down, a panel on the front of the cabinet below the pad support and forming, with said cabinet, an enclosure for used towels, a towel when used and dropped overhanging the panel, and means on the panel for engaging such used towel and transferring the same from the outside of the panel into the enclosure back of the same.

5. In combination, a pad of towels bound along one edge, a cabinet for the pad, means in the cabinet to support the pad in an upright position, said towels being disposed in laterally offset relation alternately, the offset corners of alternate towels at the end opposite the binding projecting beyond the corresponding corners of the other towels, and separate springs mounted in the cabinet in position to yieldably engage all said corners of the pair of foremost towels simultaneously.

6. A structure as in claim 1, in which the free ends of said springs face in the general direction of the slot and of the central area of the towel to offer a minimum of resistance to outward and downward movement of the side and top portions of the towel when a pulling pressure is exerted thereon from adjacent the top of the slot.

'7. A towel servidor for use with individual towels comprising a cabinet, means in the cabinet to maintain the towels in an upstanding position, and means for supporting the towels and maintaining them against undesired removal from the cabinet when used, said means comprising transversely spaced substantially U-shapedelements, disposed with their legs in vertically spaced relation, the lower leg extending forwardly from the back of the cabinet and the upper leg terminating short of the back of the cabinet to permit of insertion and removal of the towels; said towels being slidably threaded on the elements and prior to use engaging the upper legs of the elements.

8. A towel servidor for use with a towel pad having a bound edge comprising a cabinet, and supports in the cabinet for the bound edge of the pad; said supports comprising substantially U- shaped elements adapted to be slidably engaged by the pad along said bound edge, said elements extending from the back toward the front of the cabinet with their legs vertically spaced, the pad normally engaging the upper leg, and an upwardly projecting curved hump formed on the upper leg of each element at its forward end to offer a resistance to the movement of the bound edge of the pad from the upper to the lower legs of the supports.

9. In combination, a cabinet, a plurality of individual towels therein, means in the cabinet holding the towels in an upright position, means in the cabinet supporting the towels on one edge, the towels being disposed in alternately ofiset relation along the edges not engaged by the supporting means, in a manner to dispose both corresponding corners of the two foremost towels clear of each other, and means in the cabinet yieldably engaging all such corners simultaneously.

AUGUST I. HONDEVILLE. 

